See Where Portland Ranks Among Safest Cities in U.S.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018
GoLocalPDX News Team

Where does Portland rank among the safest cities in the country?

According to a recent study completed by WalletHub, Portland is ranked as the 103 safest city in the country out of 182 ranked cities.

“According to Gallup, four in 10 Americans “fear being a victim of a mass shooting,” while 24 percent of U.S. adults are concerned about terrorism. Many also worry about falling victim to hate crimes or sexual assault. The list goes on, and these sentiments often are expressed in response to recent headlines,” said WalletHub.

Portland’s Rankings

• 138th Best - Home & Community Safety
• 86th Best - Natural Disaster Risk
• 3rd Best - Financial Safety
• T-4 - Highest % of Households with Emergency Savings

The Rankings

Portland is ranked behind San Antonio, Texas and Fort Worth, Texas, who rank 101st and 102nd respectively.

Portland is ranked ahead of Riverside, California and Aurora, California, who rank 104th and 105th respectively.

Columbia, Maryland is ranked as the safest city in the country, while St. Louis, Missouri is ranked as the most dangerous.

See the Full Rankings in the Map Below

The Method

In order to determine the safest cities in which to live, WalletHub compared 182 cities — including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state — across three key dimensions: 1) Home & Community Safety, 2) Natural-Disaster Risk, and 3) Financial Safety.

They evaluated those dimensions using 39 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of safety.

WalletHub then determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

Home & Community Safety - Total Points: 50

• Presence of Terrorist Attacks: Triple Weight (~7.89 Points)
• Number of Mass Shootings: Full Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Murders & Non-Negligent Manslaughters per Capita: Triple Weight (~7.89 Points)
• Forcible Rapes per Capita: Full Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Assaults per Capita: Full Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Thefts per Capita: Full Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Sex Offenders per Capita: Full Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Law-Enforcement Employees per Capita: Half Weight (~1.32 Points)
• Active Firefighters per Capita: Half Weight (~1.32 Points)
• EMTs & Paramedics per Capita: Half weight (~1.32 Points)
• Hate Crimes per Capita: Full Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Share of Sheltered Homeless: Half Weight (~1.32 Points)
• Perception of Safety (Safety walking alone during daylight/night): Full Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Drug Poisoning Deaths per Capita: Full Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Traffic Fatalities per Capita: Full Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Pedestrian Fatalities per Capita: Full Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Road Quality: Full Weight (~2.63 Points)

Natural-Disaster Risk - Total Points: 30

• Earthquake Risk Level: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Flood Risk Level: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Hail Risk Level: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Hurricane Storm-Surge Risk Level: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Tornado Risk Level: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Wildfire Risk Level: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

Financial Safety - Total Points: 20

• Unemployment Rate: Double Weight (~2.35 Points)
• Underemployment Rate: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Share of Uninsured Population: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Foreclosure Rate: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Median Credit Score: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Debt-to-Income Ratio: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Poverty Rate: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Fraud & Other Complaints per Capita: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Identity-Theft Complaints per Capita: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Share of Unbanked Households: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Job Security: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Employment Growth: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Share of Households with Emergency Savings: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Retirement Plan Access & Participation Rate: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Personal Bankruptcy Filings per Capita: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)
• Share of Underwater Homes: Full Weight (~1.18 Points)